Helping "The Least of These"

Day 228: Matthew 25

Whenever I see a person on the street corner holding a sign asking for money or for a job, I admit, I do not know how to respond. On the one hand, I feel pity for this person and want to help them in some way. Then again, I'm selfish and want to keep my money for myself. Other times I think that there could surely be better ways for this person to spend their time and cast judgment on them. Even when I do give them money, the thought is in the back of my head about how they will spend it.

I guess what it boils down, too, is that I don't want to be taken advantage of. I feel like I am always giving to something, and when I meet a person I don't know asking me for money, I wonder if I should give it to them. I want to do so, but I also don't. It's a weird feeling, but I do think that scripture is clear about what we should do in these situations. We should give. And keep giving--no matter what this person does with this money and no matter how often we have to give it.

In Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us that any time we do something "for the least of these," we are doing it for him. When we take care of sick people, give food or money to people begging on the side of the freeway, meet someone's physical needs, invite someone into our homes, or visit people in prisons, we are following the will of the Father.

But knowing the right thing to do and doing it are two different matters entirely. They do not always work together (as we all know). Regardless, we should consider Jesus' words here. Whenever we are helping the weak, we are doing it for Jesus. The focus is not on ourselves but rather on Jesus. It's a way to say "thank you."

Perhaps we are motivated to help others out of fear of disobedience, for Jesus says that when we refuse to help the weakest members of our society, we are refusing to help him. Or maybe we will actually respond to people because it's the right thing to do, the moral thing to do. Maybe we are compassionate people and do so out of the overflow of our hearts. Regardless of what motivates us to help others, Jesus shows us how and why it's important to take care of people--not just people we associate with on a daily basis but also people we don't. Thinking of people the way that Jesus did will also change our own hearts and minds. May we all be more conscious of ways we can help "the least of these."

God's Will

Day 225: Matthew 22

So often we ask ourselves, "What is God's will for our lives?" "What does he want me to do with my life?" "What is his will?"

It is important to ponder and reflect on the answers to these questions. But it strikes me that somehow these questions have already been answered. We know what God's will is. Jesus says in Matthew 22: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus has already answered these questions for us. He wants us to love the Lord with everything we have in us--to give our all to love and honor him; he also wants us to love others, those who we consider our neighbors and those who we don't. Love God and love people. That sums up what God's will for our lives is. When we are considering and contemplating what specific career we will have, we should think first about how we can have a profession where we can love God and love people. In order to live a fully integrated life where our faith isn't separate from our work, we should choose careers that allow us to first love God and love people. Our wills and desires should come after God's will and should still align to these two commands.

Protection

Day 224: Matthew 21

I love Jesus's personality. He is humble, yet stick-it-in-your-face, but not to the people you might think. We tend to want Jesus to get on to "sinners," prostitutes, drunks, adulterers, and others like this. But no, Jesus's world is topsy turvy; it's backwards. He gets on to the religious people--those who think they know what they are doing, but who just don't get it, who are doing it all wrong. Jesus even tells them that it's going to be worse off for them. Wow. And this angers them so much. Jesus protects and defends the sinners, but he doesn't seem to protect and defend the religious leaders and the teachers of the law. He's come to teach us all, and one group is getting it while the other--the ones who should--don't. Which group are you a part of? Are you getting it, or are you judging Jesus and others who defend the sinners?

More about Jesus

Day 217: Matthew 11

Jesus is a true teacher: he gives instructions to his "pupils" (apostles) and then he goes out to teach and preach. He instructs and directs and then he goes back to his business of teaching and preaching to the masses. Jesus views both parts as important--teaching his apostles and preaching and teaching to the whole group. Food for thought.
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The following passage  is a winner in my book (11:28-20, NLT):

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus wants to give us rest. He wants to take all our burdens away from us and bring peace, rest, and contentment to our lives. His words provide evidence of what an amazing man Jesus was/is. Even though his yoke wasn't going to be easy, he still is unselfishly concerned about others. He is here for us, ready to provide our souls with rest. How comforting is that!

A Day in the Life

Day 214: Matthew 8

I'm amazed at what a day in the life of Jesus entails. He heals people. He asks people to follow him and give up their homes and possessions. He rebukes a storm and it stops. He talks about how there is a cost to following him. And this is only one chapter's worth of anecdotes! Jesus is busy. But he's not busy with the typical things that I busy myself with--work, household chores, family time, watching TV, playing on the computer, reading, exercising, and on and on. His day isn't full of time to himself or "me time" (although he does rest and pray on occasion, but even that, one could argue, is still focusing on others). He doesn't do selfish things during his day or spend time worrying and fretting, wondering how he can get it all done (like I do). No, he busies himself with people. He reaches out to people. He meets them where they're out. He shows compassion. He touches lives. He impacts people. He's out of his house--walking around town meeting people and doing things for them. Instead of staying away or spending time with his family, he's healing the sick and loving the sinners. Jesus spends his time on things that matter. His day is so much different than mine, but his example shows me what is truly important. So many of our concerns are really things that this world tells us is important--money, TV, working hard, success, education, etc. I'm not saying that it doesn't matter or that it's good to be ignorant, but I am saying that we should spend our time thinking and pondering how Jesus spent his day so that we can reflect more on how we are spending ours.

May you have some days in your life similar to the ones Jesus had in his.

The More the Merrier

Day 200: Jonah 3-4

The Lord called Jonah a second time, telling him to go to Nineveh and preach to them. Jonah didn't run this time; instead, he obeyed. He went to Nineveh and told them to repent. He did this, not believing that Nineveh would change. But what's crazy is that Nineveh did change. God's dream to have them repent and turn to him occurred. They fasted and prayed. They grew in the Lord. And God did not bring the destruction on them that he had threatened.

And what was Jonah's response? He was angry. He told God that he didn't want God to be forgiving, gracious, and compassionate. He wanted to send them calamity and destruction, and so he asks God to take away his life. Does Jonah's response here surprise you? That he wanted people to be punished for their sins. It's easy for us to judge Jonah and not put ourselves in his shoes, but we are often like Jonah, even if we don't recognize it. We get angry when people aren't punished for their sins, when destruction does not come upon them, when good things happen to bad people. In our mind, it's so unjust.

But God responds to Jonah by asking him if he had a right to be angry.

Jonah doesn't respond but instead goes out of the city, builds himself a shelter, and watched the city, waiting for it to be destroyed. But God sends some sort of shade tree to protect Jonah, and Jonah was very happy about this. But then God sent a worm to chew up the gourd. Jonah is parched and weak and faint. He wants to die. He's angry that the gourd has disappeared and that it's no longer there to protect him.

God asks Jonah if he has a right to be angry. And Jonah says that he does. But God corrects Jonah. He reminds Jonah that this shade tree was provided for him, and he didn't tend it or make it grow. And he goes on to point out that Ninevah, like Jonah, is important to him.

God cares about people. He cares about individuals, and he cares about communities. And he wants to save us, just like he saved Jonah and Nineveh. What a mighty God we serve.

A Powerful Prophet

Day 171: Jeremiah 37-40

The story of King Zedekiah and Jeremiah reminds me of Joseph and his relationship with Pharaoh. It's amazing to me how these people who have so much earthly power seem to bow and humble themselves in front of the Lord's appointed people.

Jerusalem falls to Babylon, but King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gives orders to his men to take Jeremiah but not to hurt him. It's interesting that he spares him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

Day 153: Isaiah 26-29

I am praying hard today. A college friend named Jenny Bizaillion, is not doing so well, and we are praying for her and her family. God, please work your miracle on her health so that she can come out of this. A lot of people are praying. Facebook is just amazing for stuff like this. Who knew that this is one of the results of this social networking tool. I bet the founders never envisioned stuff like this. But, wow. It's amazing. We're praying for you, Jenny and Dave and family.

The reading in Isaiah was so encouraging to me. Isaiah tells us to TRUST in the Lord, and that is just what we're doing with Jenny, and just what we do every day of our lives. God is in control, and He wants us to trust him. We will "keep in perfect peace" (26:3) and we will "worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem" (27:13). 

Praise the Lord for he is good. I will trust in you for all the days of my life. You will protect me. Although I will experience pain, I know that you are there for me. You are my comforter, my counselor.

"God Intended It for Good"

Day 13: Genesis 46 to 50

Today has been a good day. The congregation welcomed us warmly, and we enjoyed meeting many people this morning. Shane preached a fantastic sermon about the Christian imagination and tied this idea of “imagine” into the book of Ezekiel. The sermons will be available online soon at www.nccoc.net. This first one was really good.

While Peyton got to go to the nursery during the worship service, Elizabeth had to sit with me during the service since Northcrest doesn’t have children’s church. For her first time sitting there the whole time, she did almost all right, and that’s being kind to her. For those of you who know Elizabeth, you know how she is literally ALWAYS talking. Well, church service was no different. I came prepared with snacks, books, and crayons, but this still wasn’t enough to keep her occupied. Poor thing! She’ll learn how to be quiet, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to that time, so I can pay 100% attention to Shane’s sermons! I’m glad they’re available online. ;)

As we begin this new job—and I say “we” not because I do the preaching or anything but because we see congregational and community ministry as “our” ministry—I am prayerful yet anxious about what’s to come.

I’m sure Joseph never thought his life would turn out like it did. He probably expected to be a shepherd for his entire life just like his brothers. He expected to be near his father, his mother, and his brothers. But he was not. God had different plans for Joseph. Joseph was put in charge, second only to Pharaoh, and took care of the people during the seven years of famine. He grew close to God, and he listened to God’s calling. javascript:void(0)

I want to look back on our ministry as Joseph looked back on his life. While his brothers sold him into slavery and meant to harm him, Joseph has a different perspective about what happened. He tells his brothers, “Even though you intended to harm me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” (Gen. 50:20)

God knows what He’s doing with our lives. He knows what he’s doing with yours, and he knows what he’s doing with mine—even when we are unsure of what that might be. As my family begins life in this new ministry context, I am praying that God intends this experience to be for good so that we can preserve a numerous people. I hope he will use us in the same way he used Joseph. I pray the same for you, dear reader.